Tipperary man who broke 'wrong window' following earlier incident given CSO of 100 hours

A man who caused criminal damage to a house by breaking a window, had attacked the wrong property, Nenagh District Court heard.

Shane Monks of 24 Limerick Street, Roscrea, pleaded to criminal damage at a house in Glen Glas, Roscrea, on February 9, 2022.

He also pleaded to having cocaine valued at €5 and possession of a knife on the same occasion.

The court heard that Mr Monks had gone to the house in search of another person who he had interacted with previously and who had allegedly torn Mr Monks’s jacket.

“He went to the wrong house,” Sgt Regina McCarthy told the court.

Mr Monks had smashed the injured party’s front window, causing €120 worth of damage. Full compensation had been paid, the court was told.

Mr Monks had also written a letter of apology to the injured party, a female.

The court heard Mr Monks had 27 previous convictions.

His solicitor, David Peters, said that the incident had been “serious, but unfortunate”.

“The other man had torn his jacket and he went to what he thought was the man’s house,” said Mr Peters.

He said Mr Monks “immediately became apologetic” over the incident.

Mr Peters told the court his client was working in fulltime employment in construction.

Mr Monks had written the letter of apology as he wanted the woman to know she had “nothing to fear from him”, said Mr Peters.

In relation to the knife, it had just been in his client’s possession.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath said the injured party had been “severely impacted” by what had happened.

She sentenced Mr Monks to 100 hours of community service in lieu of four months in prison for criminal damage.

Judge MacGrath fined him €150 for possession of cocaine and a further €100 for possesion of a knife.